


Heat Beneath Your Winter

by ShinySherlock ficlets (ShinySherlock)



Series: assorted tumblr ficlets [24]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Duran Duran - Freeform, Gen, Inspired by Music, John's POV, Mycroft worries constantly, POV First Person, Post-Reichenbach, can be read with or without Johnlock glasses, lonely in your nightmare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-10
Updated: 2013-10-10
Packaged: 2017-12-28 23:49:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/998363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShinySherlock/pseuds/ShinySherlock%20ficlets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Song ficlet. dominatrixeditrix requested John and Sherlock, "Lonely in Your Nightmare" by Duran Duran.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heat Beneath Your Winter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dominatrixeditrix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dominatrixeditrix/gifts).



> Song with lyrics on youtube [here](http://youtu.be/aNFKgwP31gg).

I’d joke about who’s the observant one now, but the fact that you haven’t spotted me yet just tells me what state you’re in.

Two weeks, Sherlock. Two weeks since I put a gun to your brother’s head and demanded to know where you were.

I’m not an idiot; I know it would take more than a gun to make him tell me anything he didn’t want me to know. But I think he knew you were out there, alone, out on a limb. He wouldn’t have told me if he thought I’d endanger you. He wouldn’t have said a word, just smiled that thin, patronizing smile and acted like the muzzle against his neck was but a speck of lint on his jacket.

No. He wanted me to find you. To watch over you.

And I have done, following you like a shadow even on the darkest nights.

Why don’t you see me?

Didn’t you find it oddly convenient that Moriarty’s guy in Florence ended up in the Arno just when he seemed about to get away? Didn’t I give myself away a thousand times?

Why can’t you feel me?

I feel like a ghost, hovering at the edges of you. Maybe more like a bloody guardian angel, actually, come to think of it, because God knows you need one. No wonder Mycroft was so helpful.

I see you. I know you’ve got it in your head that you have to do this alone, and God knows you mean to. I’ve seen that look before. But as I watch your face I see the hope fading. You’ve always been a mad blend of good and bad, light and shade, but the balance is off now. I may not be the most observant fellow, but I can tell when you’re desperate. I can tell when you’re empty. You’ve built yourself a refuge out of stone walls and determination, but I don’t see a fortress, Sherlock. It’s a sodding cage, a cell you’ve built, and you think it makes you strong. But you’re wrong.

That cold evening along the delta, when everything was red shadows and danger was on the wind, did you take heed? Did you tread lightly?

No.

You ran into the flames, fire all around you, and dared it to burn you.

Something’s weakening you.

I think it might be loneliness.

So here I am.

I can’t believe you don’t know I’m here. The room is isolated and dark, but I made enough noise coming in the window that I should have woken you. I half-expected you to be shamming sleep, to leap up the moment I stepped closer.

Yet there you are. I can see your face twisting. I can hear your breath quicken because in your nightmare you are chasing something, and you can’t run fast enough, you’ll never, ever catch it.

I touch your face, and you turn into my hand.

Can you feel me?

My palm burns and I think your eyelids flutter.

Can you see me?

I watch and you stir and stir.

Let me in.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments always appreciated. <3  
> (And if you're looking for more to read, I made a [fic index](http://shinysherlock.tumblr.com/post/105509221665) of my stuff by category which I hope is helpful.)


End file.
